Hi guys, I have been a reader of this this forum and a few others for a couple of years and have gained lots of usable information from the experience of others as I chose my boat and electronics.
A little information about myself. I live in the Kootenays in the interior of BC and with my 15 foot Smokercraft with a 25 Yamaha I have only boated in the Arrow Lake. Now that I have a young family I thought it would be wise to buy a larger boat that allowed everything from water sports, fishing, beaching, camping and one day even ocean fishing. So after going over my budget for a used boat several times over, I ended up being able to save enough to buy a new 2014 Edge Marine OS Sport out of Oregon. After looking at all the main manufactures of welded aluminum boats and even doing factory tours, we were sold on the Edge after going for a test drive and seeing the sleek lines of the Edge. A little about the Edge, its a semi custom made boat built for offshore fishing but with sleek lines. The hull is 0.25 inch and the sides are 0.16 and has a built in Wakeboard Tower. Overall its built like a tank but when the top is down it can look a little like a ski boat, so my wife loved the looks in comparison to the rest. For the 2014 season I have loved the boat as its been able to handle all our needs and then some.
One thing that has me down a bit on the boat, is some corrosion on the aluminum hull. Before we go to much further, I have read endless threads on this subject and have not found anything that matches.
Of course when it was new it was absolutely beautiful but after a summer there was some water stains in the hull, nothing I would not have expected. Even as the boat sat through out the fall while I was trying to re-side our house before winter set in, I did not winterize the boat as I would have liked. Snow, cold came too soon and time went too fast. All I was really able to do was do a quick clean of the boat, pull the batteries and put a tarp over it. While I was outside the other day checking the boat, I noticed new corrosion spots on the boat which were not there 2 months ago and are concerning me. I of course expect the hull to oxidize over time, but these spots appear like little frost "stars" and have completely covered the hull from the water line down. From the water line up they are much smaller, if existent at all. On the exposed top surface of the swim deck and support tubing are perfectly clear.
I have attached some pictures to help with the description. There are 2 anodes, one on the motor, the other on the boat, 1 on the hull (appears just to be a sheet of aluminum with corrosion spots, 1 on the extended pod, and the last on the swim deck and supporting aluminum tubing (no corrosion on these surfaces).
So after doing some research I have learned that I should have magnesium anodes for fresh water use instead of the zinc anodes. However, even with the zinc anodes, the boat was fine all summer and up to November, when I parked it in its current location. Just to let you know that apart from when I camp with it, the boat is always on the trailer and not docked at a marina. I should also note that the trailer is also aluminum, 6000 series aluminum, and it does not show any signs of the spotting.
I am hoping some of the experienced aluminum boat owners will have some advice for me on what the problem is, or if it is just the fact that this is what aluminum does.
I apologize for the first long winded post and hope there is someone who can recognize this corrosion type and direct me in the right direction.
Thank you for reading.
John
A little information about myself. I live in the Kootenays in the interior of BC and with my 15 foot Smokercraft with a 25 Yamaha I have only boated in the Arrow Lake. Now that I have a young family I thought it would be wise to buy a larger boat that allowed everything from water sports, fishing, beaching, camping and one day even ocean fishing. So after going over my budget for a used boat several times over, I ended up being able to save enough to buy a new 2014 Edge Marine OS Sport out of Oregon. After looking at all the main manufactures of welded aluminum boats and even doing factory tours, we were sold on the Edge after going for a test drive and seeing the sleek lines of the Edge. A little about the Edge, its a semi custom made boat built for offshore fishing but with sleek lines. The hull is 0.25 inch and the sides are 0.16 and has a built in Wakeboard Tower. Overall its built like a tank but when the top is down it can look a little like a ski boat, so my wife loved the looks in comparison to the rest. For the 2014 season I have loved the boat as its been able to handle all our needs and then some.
One thing that has me down a bit on the boat, is some corrosion on the aluminum hull. Before we go to much further, I have read endless threads on this subject and have not found anything that matches.
Of course when it was new it was absolutely beautiful but after a summer there was some water stains in the hull, nothing I would not have expected. Even as the boat sat through out the fall while I was trying to re-side our house before winter set in, I did not winterize the boat as I would have liked. Snow, cold came too soon and time went too fast. All I was really able to do was do a quick clean of the boat, pull the batteries and put a tarp over it. While I was outside the other day checking the boat, I noticed new corrosion spots on the boat which were not there 2 months ago and are concerning me. I of course expect the hull to oxidize over time, but these spots appear like little frost "stars" and have completely covered the hull from the water line down. From the water line up they are much smaller, if existent at all. On the exposed top surface of the swim deck and support tubing are perfectly clear.
I have attached some pictures to help with the description. There are 2 anodes, one on the motor, the other on the boat, 1 on the hull (appears just to be a sheet of aluminum with corrosion spots, 1 on the extended pod, and the last on the swim deck and supporting aluminum tubing (no corrosion on these surfaces).
So after doing some research I have learned that I should have magnesium anodes for fresh water use instead of the zinc anodes. However, even with the zinc anodes, the boat was fine all summer and up to November, when I parked it in its current location. Just to let you know that apart from when I camp with it, the boat is always on the trailer and not docked at a marina. I should also note that the trailer is also aluminum, 6000 series aluminum, and it does not show any signs of the spotting.
I am hoping some of the experienced aluminum boat owners will have some advice for me on what the problem is, or if it is just the fact that this is what aluminum does.
I apologize for the first long winded post and hope there is someone who can recognize this corrosion type and direct me in the right direction.
Thank you for reading.
John
